-TWO-
It was the end of the week for Richmond, a full week since she had enrolled and everything was starting to seem familiar, she even managed to find herself a friend along the way. Rebecca was outspoken which made her perfect for the drama group, it allowed Kate to simply sit back and watch than have the focused attention of others on her.
"You should totally go for the main role."
Kate looked up from her book to her red headed friend beside her. "I prefer the more obscure roles." The day was at an end, leaving the two freshman women waiting for the bus. "You should go for it." She suggested.
"I don't know." Rebecca seemed in deep thought as she took a bite of her apple. "It would be pretty great if Michael got the male role." She gave Kate a cheeky smile that had the other girl shaking her head.
"And you'd knock Alisha down a few knots." Kate said, remembering the dark skinned woman who seemed to think she held power, she was like Luther's daughter.
"Hell yeah!" Rebecca agreed, the idea of going for the part to simply do that was tempting. "Sure you don't want to give it a go?"
"It's yours for the taking." Kate answered, finally putting her book away. Glancing around the parking lot of students, she suddenly decided to change her plans for the afternoon. "I'm going to go see what Damien is doing."
"I thought being twins meant you guys have a special connection." Rebecca asked in disappointment tone at finding out the truth.
"Yeah…but I don't magically know what he is doing." Kate said in amusement, it seemed that ever since Rebecca found out that Damian wasn't only her older brother but twin, the woman kept coming up with these theories about twin bonds. "I'll catch ya later." Kate said in goodbye and shoulder her bag.
"Say hi to your brother for me!" Rebecca shouted as the other girl walked away. Kate merely shook her head, her friend repeatedly said that she had no interest in her brother but Kate suspected differently. Giving her head one more shake over the completions of her friend, Kate started to make her way to where every Carter ended up.
The sound of squeaky shoes reached Kate's ears when she walked through the doors of the gym, either they were running or practising on the court. After speaking to Damien last night about the team, she could take a confident guess on what Coach had them performing.
Entering the room, she found the guys running suicides up and down the court. She headed towards the stand, she could Damien voice in her head complaining about his ass cheeks. "Do you see something funny here Madam?" She looked up to see her father addressing her and the smirk that had been on her lips dropped immediately.
"No Sir." She replied, seeing some of the guys looking over in interest. Mockingly, Lyle was shaking his head of her behind her father's back and she had to stop the temptation of rolling her eyes at the white man.
"Let's keep it that way, or next time you might be running suicides with them." Coach warned before turning back to his team, yelling at them to pick their pace up.
Kate kept her head down and took a seat on the stand, she had no doubt that her father would get her running alongside of them if she looked sideways at him. It wasn't that her father despised her, it was the fact that he took his job seriously and wanted to make a difference in the teams life, that meant treating everyone equally. Given the circumstances, she was probably lucky to be allowed into the gym when they were training as Coach was her lift home. She could have taken the bus but that would have meant staying at the sports store for a few hours listening to Kenny mumbling to himself, she much rather the sounds of basketball.
She pulled out her English homework, deciding to get it done in her time now and rather than at home. They were studying Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the expectations from their families was to be discuss in an essay which meant going into depth about the tragic love of the star-crossed lovers. In Kate's view, she couldn't get over the fact that two families were fighting and held so much hatred for each other, they'd probably forgotten what it was that caused the feud between the Capulet and the Montague. As for Romeo and Juliet, it didn't really set a good example for the younger generation and how to deal with issues that arose in the present day. Overall, Kate thought the book and the essay was a load of nonsense but she had made a deal with her father, good grades means drama group for her.
Kate was so absorbed in her own thoughts that she was caught off guard when her father blew the whistle, making her eyes jerk up at the sound to watch the guys walk off the court with slumped shoulders, exhaustion sweeping off them. "Kate," She eyes drew away from the guys to her father standing in front of her. "I've just got a few things to do in the office and we can head home." She nodded her head and started packing up her workbooks as Coach left the court to head in the direction of the locker room and office.
With her workbooks in her bag, she grabbed the current book she was reading and stepped down from the stands to make her way into the hallway. She stopped outside the doorway that indicted the showers and leaned against the wall, opening the book up while waiting for Coach and Damien to finish up for the afternoon.
She instantly got herself into the novel, In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, it was said to be a true story and she found it fascinating reading about two men, murders who seem to suffer from mental health issues and switched from personalities in an instant.
"Hey." The male voice greeting her caused Kate to judder in fright as she didn't realise that someone had been standing across from her. "Didn't mean to scare ya." She realised that he was one of the basketball players, if she remembered correctly he was the type to flirt with anything in a skirt. "I'm Worm."
"Hope that isn't your real name." Kate replied, simply staring back to see his reaction. If she didn't know what his intentions were, she would have given the guy a chance with cameral skin and chocolate eyes, not to mention he carried a body of a basketballer.
Worm gave a chuckle at her sassy attitude, he hadn't been expecting that. "Actually the name came from-" He quieten down, realising that he didn't actually want to say the crude words to her as he finally got a chance to talk to the woman. "Jaron Willis."
"Jaron." Kate repeated, astonished that he was telling her his actually name.
"But you better call me Worm, can't have people knowing the real me." Worm joked, feeling off his game after his birth name had left his lips without his permission.
"Worm it is." She agreed though preferring his real name to the rough nickname.
"Better head out." He started heading for the gym doors. "Catch ya later Katie." He yelled over his shoulder, needing to get out of there before anything else happened.
Katie – her gaze didn't leave his back as the nickname rang in her head, everyone always called her Kate even Damien. And she wondered what the bullshit about his real name was about, it made her rethink the high school rumours about Worm wasn't totally true.
"You alright?" Damien came out of the locker room freshly showered with his wet hair.
She looked away from the space that Worm had been occupying. "Yeah."
He raised a questionable eyebrow at her but figured if it was bothering her, she'd tell him sooner or later like always. "Come on, dad said to wait out in the car." He dangled the keys in his hand. "He shouldn't be much longer." He started down the hallway and heard his sister slowly walking behind him – maybe her crime novel was finally spooking her? He rolled his eyes, thinking about the last time she had jumped at the slightest sound and slept with her bedside lamp on for a week.
Kate could feel adrenaline pumping through her, she wasn't the one running back and forth on the court but Damien was, Richmond was in the middle of playing their first game against Hercules and was winning by a couple of points. "Come on Damien!" She yelled out from her spot in the middle of the crowd on the stand. Her brother never played a game at St. Francis because he was freshman were Coach had put him on the court after one of the other players had been taken off. So far, Damien was contributing to the team's score and she knew that this was the moment that he was proving himself to be more than 'daddy's boy'.
When the buzzer finally sounded, Kate couldn't stop herself screaming along with her mother – Richmond had won, it may have been a tight win but it was success and showed that the technique that her father was using, was working. "Come on, we'll wait for them outside." Her mother grabbed her coat, the smile of her face reflecting the wide one on Kate's face.
She slowly followed behind her mother, feeling proud after watching the team practice so much. "Kate, we won!" Damien suddenly came out of the crowd and embraced her, his sweaty arms surrounding her.
"So happy for you!" She answered him with the same enthusiasm. "Now get your sweaty body away from me." She joked, trying to wiggle out of his grip.
Damien finally pulled away after deliberately wiping his sweaty arm over the side of her cheek. "I'll see ya at the car." He said in departure.
"Enjoy the show." She glanced away from her brother to see Worn standing not even a metre away from her with a wide cocky grin on his face – gone the boy from the hallway gym.
"It was a heated game." She remarked, remembering the constant back and forth between Richmond and Hercules. "I see those suicides have come in handy." She meant in winning the game but she couldn't help her eyes take in his strong arms and lean body.
"Maybe one day I'll have to show you how well practise has been." Worm fired back, not missing the not so discreet sweep of his body. After that afternoon in the hallway of the Gym, Worm had told himself that the woman wasn't worth it, she gave him an uneasy sensation in his stomach that he was unfamiliar with and she was the Coache's daughter. And on the other hand, he liked a new challenge.
"Someday." She smiled back at him before making her way through the joyful crowd and outside to the parking lot to the family car. While she couldn't stop the smile on her lips, she questioned herself to why she felt the need to interact with someone that would certainly cause trouble.
X:X:X:X:X:X
The drama meeting had finished, leaving Katie half an hour of spare time before practise at the gym would be over. Rebecca hadn't been at school for the day so she was a no show for the meeting, leaving Kate wandering the empty school area. It was strange to see it this deserted but she treasured the feeling of having some space after the few hectic days. The weekend hadn't gone as planned, she only had a some homework to deal with that should have taken a three hours tops but her father had needed help with the store. He had been talking about opening a second sport store though with the sudden focus on the basketball team, the store had been piling up with paper work and Kate being good with numbers was asked to lend a hand with the store. She let out a heavy sign and wondered how reoccurring the weekend would be as she walked into the gym.
Walking on the edge of the court, she watched a guy with an afro run the length of it and connected the dots, this was Cruz who skipped out in the first week. She could clearly tell that Cruz was struggling with the amount of sweat patches on his shirt and his puffing breath. Slowly she walked to the edge of the stand and dropped her bag at the chair, the sound catching the attention of Cruz who slowly jogged the court. One look at his face and she was moving towards Clyde who was recording Cruz's suicides. "How many suicides?" She questioned, getting a look at the clip board of tallies.
"1,000 suicides." Clyde said in disbelief, reflecting Kate's thoughts. "And 250 push ups."
"And push ups?" She questioned, seeing an unbeatable number for one man. "Deadline?" She asked, knowing her father always put one to his penalties.
"This Friday." Clyde muttered obviously thinking the man was trying to complete the unthinkable.
Without further question, Kate went over to her bag and pulled out her water bottle that was still more than half full before going over to the jogging Cruz. "Have a drink." She didn't leave it as a question and thrashed her bottle into his chest which he curiously took a drink. "Keep your levels of water up, or you won't be completing the suicides."
"I don't need your help." He said, passing the drink back over.
She could only guess that her being the Coach's daughter wasn't scoring any bonus points but fuelling his anger. "You can't do it yourself."
He directed his eyes downwards to the court before starting his jogging back up with a whisper. "I know."
She held her drink bottle and watched him for a couple of minutes, puzzled that he knew there was defeat yet continued to push himself. Because of his defiance to continue, she was tempted to start doing suicides beside him to help and encourage him to continue, but her efforts wouldn't count because she wasn't a team member.
Kate did the only thing she could, she went back over to Clyde and reached for the clip broad. "I'll take over." Clyde simply nodded and passed the pen before walking off the court. If she couldn't run the suicides for him, she'd cheer him on.
It was another day at school, lunch was in the progress and Rebecca was absent yet again. The woman had caught the flu, saying that she had a runny nose and upset stomach. Not having the woman around made Kate realise how much Rebecca did fill the space and make the school hours run faster. Her absent friend meant Kate was given time to lean herself against a tree and simply be entrapped with her book to something more exciting than her routine of education.
"So this is where you wonder off too." Worm stated, finding the woman with her legs crossed against the grass and novel in her hands.
"You've worked out the secret." She glanced up from her page, seeing Worm with a basketball in his hands. "And you are doing your own wondering off?" She questioned, seeing that none of his usual friends were with him.
"Just clearing the mind." He rolled the ball around in his hands.
Watching him, she noticed that his lips had thinned and it seemed like he wanted to take the words back. "You heading to the court? She asked, not sure what else to say.
He nodded his head slowly in thought. "You want to come?"
She observed him, wondering if he'd only offered to seem polite but remembered this was Worm, he wouldn't do or ask if he hadn't meant it. "Sure." Kate closed her book and stood up, following Worm to the outdoor basketball courts.
She took a seat at the picnic table next to the hoop, placing her book on the table but not picking it up as she watched Worm aim for a shot and miss. "You must be having a bag day." She stated, having seen the team shot hundreds of goals before in practise.
He tried for another shot and the ball bounced off the back board. "Cruz isn't going to make the deadline." He turned around with a slump in his shoulders, basketball resting against his side.
"Not by himself." She stated, getting up from the table and taking the ball from him to help direct his thoughts in other directions. Kate moved around him and got her stance ready to shoot.
"You have no chance." He said, watching her getting ready for the shot at the distance.
"You're forgetting that I grew up with Coach." She shook her head at him and threw the ball, unsurprisingly getting it into the hoop.
"Now I've seen it, a girl that can actually play." Worm teased, running over to get the ball as it bounced under the hoop. "Hey, Coach is always telling us about techniques he learnt from his sisters. Do you really have that many aunts?" It was a question the whole basketball team wondered, so far there was Diana and Linda.
"I ain't telling you, got to leave some mystery." Kate argued, reaching forward and snatching the ball from Worm to started dribbling down to the other end of the court. She briefly turned her head over her shoulder and spotted him catching up behind her with a smile gracing his lips – she had successfully distracted him from his worries.
The next basketball practice was daunting, it was Friday and Kate watched from the stands as Cruz pushed his tired body into more suicides. The clock was ticking and practise was almost over, she had seen the concerned glances from the team members and they knew Cruz's task was almost impossible to get in the time frame.
The Coach had the team playing against one another, working on their defence when Coach called an end for the day. "Head home, get some rest, we have a game on the weekend." He walked away from the team and towards Clyde who was keeping tally of Cruz's performance. "Times up." He looked at the clip board. "You haven't completed your task, I suggest you give up now and leave." Coach continued his way off the court when Lyle spoke up.
"I'll do some." He said, watching the tired expression on his friends face.
Coach turned around to the young man. "You sure about this Sir?"
"You said we're a team. One person struggles, we all struggle. One person triumphs, we all triumph." Lyle confirmed his belief in helping out his team member before moving forward next to Cruz and starting a set of suicides. Slowly, one by one each team member moved forward to contribute.
Richmond played against Kennedy that weekend and functioning as a team, they triumphed yet again.
AN: Sorry for the wait, hope for the guys that are still reading that you enjoyed the chapter. For the record, there are some quotes from the movie and a rough timeline but most is fiction.